An Elite Guardian

I was ripped from my sleep, with my armor on-never hurts in case here is an attack at night- by the sound of my doors being flung open, practically off their hinges, and dozens of guards rushed in, spears pointed at me as i jolted upright, hand going to my blade on the bed stand, only for it to be stopped by a pinkish magic, the owner of which spoke up.

"Ruso, we don't want to harm you," Fleur said, her horn lit, as she and Celestia's other Lieutenants walked into my room, followed by Celestia herself. "But if you do anything, you will be put down."

I glared at them as I replied. "And what is the meaning of this? I have done nothing to warrant this!"

"It's not what you have done," Celestia said, "but what you will do."

"So, you did see the vision?" I asked. "How do you know it isn't self fulfilling? That trying to prevent it, you will cause it? You said it yourself, I was Harmony's Champion."

"Perhaps," Celestia said, "but there is precedent for her champions using their power for personal gain."

"Like you?" I asked, making a look of shock appear on her face, fear on Rainbow's, and anger on the others. "I am not an idiot, Celestia. Both the guards I have spoken with and the nobles say that, before this all started, Luna cared for her subjects, and helped the poor. Tell me, why would she then fall in love with a tyrant. And if it was mind control, why not tell your sister after freeing her, hm? Unlike your ponies, I have not lived under your banner my entire life, and thus, am not blind to the fact that even the brightest suns have dark spots."

"You do realize that adds treason to your list, correct?" Celestia asked, and I could hear a hint of anger in that question.

"Does it look like I care?" I asked, my face blank. "Regardless, if you wish to incarcerate me, you can try, but I am quite certain you will fail."

That, she will, I heard Harmony say in my head. Seems she can communicate with me even while I'm awake. Useful.

"And even then, who do you think my battalion would follow: you, who did to even bother to give them a competent commander before me, or yours truly, who was able to mold them into an actual battalion. I have earned their trust. You have not. All you have is the trust of those from a thousand years ago passed down. You have done nothing since then. When I first arrived, it was I who saved you from Sombra and his forces. It was i who defended Canterlot, and, even though I am a mortal, did not falter against a god, and it was by that that the one you were fighting against left you alive." Now for the hammer. "In fact, how do we know Umbra did not plant a seed in you, and is influencing you as we speak?"

I could see the guards falter at that last line, as the seeds had become knowledge among the guard since Canterlot was invaded. "But, let us put the guards trust in you and in me to the test, shall we? I will let you put me in the dungeon. If a guard does not help me escape in the slightest, whether directly or not, within the week, I will take whatever judgment you give. If one, however, does, than, well. . .I'll decide that one then."

And it was that which Celestia greed with, though out of over-confidence or certainty, I was not certain. As such, I got out of the bed, with the unicorns in the group removing my armor though leaving the under suit on, and taking my weapons before leading me to the cells under the castle that were a part of the mountain, and locked me in, quote unquote "the most secure cell in the palace dungeons." I suppose that will be determined later on.

Anyway, the cell itself was a small square, to where I had to crouch to be able to fit in it, and, of what I can tell, it had been here since the first years of the castle, with four of the security force outside the steel door. I will admit, it seems secure enough.

Anyways, the usual procedure was for them to deliver a tray of food via a small slot in the bottom of the door, and, after I was finished, made sure I cleaned everything off. In a clever move, they made sure it was all meat, so I would have no reason to not eat it, thus making them suspicious should I not eat anything.

It was that way for about three days. It was the lunch meal of the fourth day that things got interesting. On the bottom of the tray was a note that read The freakshow stands with you, Ruso. It was not signed, so I was unable to tell who wrote it, but I was still cautious, as it may have simply been a ruse. Also strange was, that night, there was another note, though this one had been signed.

Tomorrow, third guard rotation. Be ready. -Rainbow Okay, now that is intriguing I'm curious as to why one of Celestia's Lieutenants is willing to help me. I guess I'll ask her then.

Anyways, beyond that, nothing out of the ordinary occurred for the rest of the day. On the fifth day, when lunch was delivered, just before the third guard rotation, the tray felt heavier than usual. I examined it, seeing nothing odd, and came to the conclusion hat it was in the food. At that, I began to tear the food apart, eating it as I did so as I had not had anything to eat since breakfast hours ago, only to discover, to my surprise, the hilt of my energy sword hidden in a steak.

A few minutes later, I heard a conversation begin. "Ma'am, we didn't expect you."

"Yes, well, the Princess wants us to guard him this shift," I heard Fleur reply.

"You, sure, ma'am," the first guard questioned. "Isn't that unicorn a part of his battalion?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Report back to the barracks. That's an order."

"Ma'am," I heard the four guards replied.

After a second of hearing the clank of moving armor, I heard Fleur mutter, "Now," before hearing bodies hit the floor.

"They're out," I heard Twilight say. "An hour until they wake up."

"Then let's get to it," I heard Rainbow say. Seriously, why are half of Celestia's Lieutenants in on this?

The cell door opened a few minutes later, showing the three mares I expected to be there, as well as a fourth who looked like-it's Harmony in a less eye catching disguise, isn't? I mean, she's white, she has rainbow hair, is above average tall but below Celestia, and is an earth pony, along with no cutie mark.

"This is unexpected," I said. "Given the notes, I expected Twilight and Rainbow, but not you, Fleur." I then looked at the other mare. "I assume that is you, Harmony?"

She nodded. "Yes. As for why Fleur is here? Well, it never hurts to have more than one champion."

"I can say I did not expect that," I muttered before I got up, grabbing my sword hilt. "That does not answer why Rainbow and Fleur decided to help me out than stay with Celestia."

"Yeah, well," Rainbow said, "you did have a fair point about the whole seed thing. I mean, yeah, not likely, but still. I'm no politician, but I would find it weird if Princess Celestia just up and decided to surrender the war. With a seed, it'd be gradual, and more believable."

Fleur shrugged. "For me, it was the fact that Harmony showed me my part in that vision you mentioned, and I saw myself standing next to you while fighting pillars of flame for some reason."

"Odd," I muttered, but they still somehow heard me.

"Odd how?" Twilight asked.

"Because in my vision, I was standing in what I assume to be a hall of the crystal palace in the Empire as I saw the four royals fighting a pillar of flame." I decided to leave out the part of me standing next to said pillar. Still, it was enough to put a look of horror on the lavender unicorn's face. "What?"

"And with that, I take my leave," Harmony said before she vanished unceremoniously.

"Okay, then," Rainbow remarked. "Ignoring that, I agree with Ruso, Sparkle. What?"

"Whenever I'm off duty," Twilight began, "I usually go to the library. No surprise there, I know, but a few days ago, I decided to read some old myths and legends just to have some knowledge of those, and I read one about an old race that used to rule Equis. Their name wasn't in there, but it did say they had complete and utter control over fire, and could even turn into flames," she explained. "It even mentioned thay had the ability to turn others into their kind and control them." Explains that portion of it. "Tartarus, it was mentioned Harmony made an army of Champions, and most of them were turned, even! If they're coming back-"

"It'll take all four of the royals working together for us to even have a chance," Rainbow finished. "But somehow, I doubt Queen, or Empress, or whatever her title is Luna will want to make an alliance with Princess Celestia unless we can find solid proof of those things coming back."

"There may be a way for that to happen," Twilight said as she pulled a book out of nowhere. Or rather, her pocket dimension. I don't know the exact, but the basic is that every unicorn has a pocket dimension only they can access with a basic, easy to use spell. I wonder if having two seeds will allow me to have one? "It's a long shot, but the book does have a location where warning signs for their return are obvious."